Falling for You
by FlowyWaterLily
Summary: Typical Zutara story, Zuko captures Katara and he uses her to get to the avatar, she is nothing but bait to him. But that changes when the two start growing a liking towards each other, and maybe more. This story was published on 8/16/17
1. Captured

New story! I have some chapters rewritten so the next chapter will be up probably tomorrow or in 2 days. This chapter was published on 8/16/17

 **Captured**

Katara, Aang, Sokka, Suki, and Toph all sat down near the campfire. They were planning where to head next, they couldn't stay in one place for too long since it would only be a matter of time before Zuko tracked them down and attempted to take Aang.

"We'll sleep here for the night, in the morning we will head off again" Sokka said while drawing a small map of the plan on the dirt with a stick.

As they prepared for night Katara put out the fire, leaving them in complete darkness. They all gave her confused looks.

"What?" she asked. "The fire can give our location away." Katara said. Everyone nodded and went to sleep.

 _Hours Later_

Katara woke up to the sound of explosions, she quickly stood up and looked around, almost convinced that she had just heard noises and was about to go back to sleep when she heard it again. Only this time she knew it wasn't her imagination. She looked at the sky for answers and saw fire blasts. She gasped and turned to everyone, they were all sleeping except one who was missing. _Aang_ was gone, she ran to Sokka and woke him up, "Sokka! Sokka! You've got to wake up!" She said shaking him slightly. Sokka woke up and saw the fire in the sky,

"Fire nation?" He said, "But how?"

"I don't know" she said, "All I know is that Aang is missing"

"Wait, where is Toph?" Sokka said while standing up and looking around, he moved towards Suki and woke her up.

"Listen up, Katara you stay here in case Aang or Toph returns, me and Suki will go looking for them in case they don't return" Sokka said.

"What? I'm sure Toph can find her way back, in anything she shouldn't even be lost or wherever she is. And what if you run into the fire nation soldiers?" she said.

"Katara we will be fine. Just stay here" Sokka said while running off into the woods with Suki.

Katara let out a sigh of frustration, she should've been the one after Aang or Toph, the fire nation is here which means fire benders. She's a waterbender, she is their greatest advantage against them and they wanted her to sit and wait for someone to show up?

She turned around and saw trees on fire, she knew that where there was massive fire there was a chance of a firebender, and possibly Aang. She knew well that she was instructed to stay at the camp incase Aang or Toph showed up, but doing something was better than doing nothing. She head off into the direction of the burning trees, there was smoke and leaves flowing everywhere.  
She kept walking straight into the woods towards the fire but she never encountered anything, all of a sudden she was pulled back a bit by a strong wind. _Aang!_ She thought, she ran faster into the woods until she reached a small cliff, she stopped running when she reached it. "Damn" she thought, dead end. She heard another blast, and she decided to look down the cliff, she saw Aang and a firebender fighting. They were a decent distance from her but she was able to tell Aang from his tattoos.

She carefully slid herself down the small cliff and ran towards Aang, the closer she got the more the firebender started to seem familiar. She was still far away from them even though she was running as fast as she could, she knew she wouldn't make it in time because by the time she caught up with them Aang could've been gone. She bent the water that was near her and used it as a ride. Good thing that cliff was next to the ocean.

She reached Aang and in a second she used the waterwhip against the firebender, upon getting closer to the firebender she started to recognize him, his shaggy black hair that hung over his face, his fire nation clothes, his pale skin and most recognizable, his red scar that took up most of the left side of his face.

"Zuko!" She yelled, she was so stupid. The fire nation ship, Aang being missing. Of course it was Zuko. What other firebender would have the thirst to capture the avatar? She felt a grip on her wrist and her head flung to the side,

"Come on let's go!" said Aang as he grabbed Katara and ran off. No matter if he airbent the wind to make him and Katara faster, they couldn't outrun Zuko. He was ready for this, chopping bushes, vines, anything that stood in his way as he ran to catch what he had came for. Somewhere along the way Katara and Aang started to split up, Aang was running fast and it seemed as if he never ran out of energy. However Katara was tired and exhausted, she started to slow down as she ran, she had sprinted all the way into the woods, slid herself down a small cliff and didn't sleep that much. She knew she wouldn't be able to run back to the camp, she would slow down Aang and Zuko would catch him.

Then, an idea sparked in her mind, she was running out of energy to run, but not to pull one last attack. She swiftly turned around to see Zuko running towards them, she bent water near his legs and arms and froze it. She smiled at herself and continued running while she could, she had managed to stop him. But she had not thought of the outcome, she turned her head slightly to see that Zuko had melted the ice she encased him in, she panicked as she saw him bolt towards her.

"Aang!" she yelled but realized he wasn't there, he must've thought that she was behind him, but she wasn't.

"Aang!" she yelled again hoping that he would hear her, but he didn't, because no one came to her, no one came back. She could feel heat start to linger and she knew Zuko was close. If Aang couldn't hear her then there was no chance.

"Sokka!" she yelled, hoping that maybe her brother could hear her. "Anyone please help m-!" she yelled before a hand went over her mouth. Her eyes widened and she turned around, She saw pale skin at first, her eyes move more up and saw Zuko. "Let go of me!" she yelled while ready to strike him.

"You're coming with me" he said while yanking her and running off in the opposite direction. She wanted to fight it, she really did but she was just too tired. She couldn't do anything, but she still wouldn't give up. She yanked her hand away from him and tried to run, but he was too prepared. Although she knew well of hiding from people, she secretly snuck behind a thick tree. She slowed down her breathing to make it more quiet.

"Where are you, you filthy peasant" Zuko said while slicing through vines and bushes looking for her. Katara slowed down her heartbeat with her slow breathing and was incredibly quiet. She heard him cutting through bushes, he was getting closer and closer to where she was stationed at, she remained calm and was planning where she would run off to. She would have to be a sneak master, yelling for help was no longer an option.

Out of no where Zuko slices through a breath near her and her breath gasps a bit. She heard his footsteps stop and everything grew silent. She knew that he knew where she was, she quickly ran to another direction but his hand grabbed her waist and shoved her back, causing her to fall down. She kicked his legs and he fell to the floor, she got up and ran.

"Stupid peasant!" he yelled as he got up and chased after her, he found it rather easy to catch up to her. He knew damn well that she was tired and he used that to his advantage. If he could catch Aang, then he could use an alternative way.

A hand grabbed Katara's wrist and flung her back, "This stops now." He said

"w-what do you want from me?" she asked while trying to get away from his grip, but he was just too strong. She couldn't tell if it was because she was too tired or because he was just naturally stronger than her, even if she was tired or not she probably wouldn't have escaped this grip.

"If I can't get to Aang, I will use you to get to him." He said sternly.


	2. Bait

**Bait**

Zuko held Katara as he walked her towards his ship,

"You will never catch him" she whispered, she could fall asleep right now if she could.

"Maybe not him, but I can through you." He stated.

"And how will you ever do that?" she questioned.

He chuckled at her not figuring it out yet. "Isn't it obvious?" he asked, "I am going to use her as bait. The avatar and the rest of your pathetic friends will figure out I have captures you, they will know what I want. Your little boyfriend the avatar will trade himself in." He added

"And just how can you be so sure?" she said. She tried once again to free herself of his hold but she failed. She sighed and lowered her head.

"Because he loves you, he would give himself up for you" he said, why did she have to be so damn curious about everything?

"Well first of all, he is not my boyfriend." She shot back.

"But he loves you" he growled, "now shut up"

They had finally reached his ship, he threw her on the floor, "guards, take her to a room. Nothing fancy, she is a prisoner." He ordered.

The guards quickly picked her up off the ground and dragged her to an old room. They threw her in and shut the door. She laid on the floor for a while, wondering how Aang would allow her to be in this position, he should've realized that she wasn't running alongside with him, he should've heard her screams for help. Moments past and she was still on the exact same spot the guards had thrown her on, she was still wondering how she was going to get out of this. Then she heard the door start to open, she stood up weakly to see who it was. As the door opened she realized it was just a guard.

"What do you want" she sneered. If there was water in that room she would've attacked him on sight.

He did nothing but stare at her, then he left. She didn't think much of it and just fell onto the bed, she fell asleep quickly.

 _Morning_

She woke up and saw Zuko in her room, sitting on a nearby chair.

"Get out!" she screamed while throwing something at him.

"I was just giving you breakfast!" he yelled back.

"Oh" she whispered. "Well um thank you" she said.

"Whatever" he spat.

"How long will you keep me here" she wondered.

"However long it takes for the avatar to turn himself in" he argued.

"Please, just let me go" she said softly.

He chuckled at her question, how could she, a peasant, ask him, a prince to give up what he wanted for years. To ask him to just let her go, would be like giving up all his chances of getting the avatar.

"And why would I ever do that?" he mocked.

She stayed quiet, she didn't know answer to that. All she knew was that letting her go was the right thing to do.

"You can't keep me locked in here forever" she said.

"I can, and I will." He growled back.

"I will go insane, at least let me go outside this room" she asked.

"I don't think so" he said.

"You can't just hold me as a prisoner!" she yelled while throwing her food on the floor.

Zuko stood up, his anger was building up. "You don't have to have a room you know, I could put you in a small cell, with the other men." He yelled back.

"That's probably as worse as this!" she said.

"Let me leave, or I will find a way out!" she yelled as she stepped closer to him, challenging him.

"And what are you gonna do about it?" he asked, accepting her challenge.

She looked him in the eye, she raised her hand back as if prepared to slap him, But he grabbed her hand, stopping her. His anger was so much that his body temperature had risen, it was like he was burning her wrist with his hand. She jumped back, but his hand was still on hers.

"Stop!" she said while trying to shove herself away from him.  
Her eyes started to fill with tears, he was leaving a bruise on her hand.

With her other free hand she quickly slapped him, he let go of her and stepped back a bit, surprised at what she had done.

"The hell?!" he yelled, he stepped closer to her and he saw the tears in her eyes. His eyes widened a bit,

"Get away from me, please" she begged. She didn't hear anything, she turned around and saw that he was gone. She looked over at her hand, it had a mark on it. An entire circle of redness surrounded it. She looked at the floor where some water was spilt from her breakfast. She attempted to heal her hand but nothing happened.

She climbed into her bed but she found it hard to sleep. There was no way out of this place. She couldn't escape, there were to many guards, and she couldn't bribe anyone. The only way was for Aang to give himself in, but she would rather die than to let the avatar fall into Zuko's hands.

 _Team Avatar_

"God damnit Aang! You let my sister get kidnapped by Zuko?!" Sokka yelled.

"It wasn't my fault! I thought she was right behind me" Aang said back defensively.

Sokka got even more angry, "How could you be so stupid!" He yelled.

"Its not like she yelled my name saying that I was going to fast!" Aang bellowed.

"Actually, she did yell your name." Toph added. "I heard her yell 'Aang' about 3 times"

"WHAT!?" Sokka yelled, "She called for your help and you didn't even hear!" he said.

"Don't go to harsh on him Sokka, she yelled your name too." Toph said.

"See! You are no worse than me!" yelled Aang.

"Well… well where were you in this Toph?!" Sokka said to take the subject off of him and point fingers at Toph.

"Yea Toph, you should've been the one to find her the fastest!" Aang said.

"Everyone stop! The longer you two spend bickering the longer Katara is with Zuko." Suki said.

"If we want to find her fast then we are going to have to cooperate instead of blaming each other" Suki added.

"She's right" said Sokka, even though he hated Aang at the moment for letting Zuko take his little sister, they had to put that in the past to find her faster.

 _Zuko's ship, Morning._

Katara woke up, she sat up and looked around the room, she didn't see Zuko this time.  
She slowly got out of her bed, make her way to the mirror that was in the room and stared at herself. Her bruised wrist, her dress a bit ripped from the trees she had been running through when she was after Aang, and when she was running away from Zuko. Her hair was also messy and her face was dirty, she really needed a shower.

Then, the door opened. It was Zuko bringing her breakfast. She didn't say anything but look at the food. Then she looked at him and did nothing.

"Eat." He said.

She looked at him with no emotion, she didn't shake her head. She did nothing.

"Eat." He demanded.

She still did nothing, at it angered him.

"Damnit, why won't you eat?" He said loudly while standing up and moving a bit closer to her, to his surprise she flinched. She pulled her hand in front of herself as if he was going to attack her.

"No more" she pleaded.

He groaned, "You act as if I am going to attack you"

Katara shot him a deadly look, did he not know? Did he not know of the bruise in her hand, the red circle that went around her, the burn mark that he had made? Was he unaware of the pain he caused her?

"You don't know" she whispered quietly while pulling her hand down.

"What?" he said angrily. He was about to leave when he looked at what she had been hiding this entire time. It never occurred to him that she was holding her right hand behind her back, or how she used to her left hand to get ready to defend herself when she was right handed, how she gently touched her hand and stroked it.

She then turned around to walk to a seat when he saw it, the red mark on her hand.


	3. Why do you care?

**Why do you Care?**

Zuko grabbed Katara's wrist gently, and looked at it.

"Did I do this to you?" he asked softly. She looked at him, yanking her wrist away from him even though it hurt badly. She whimpered from the pain,

"Yes, you did." She said. "Now leave me alone" she added.

"I can give you water, to heal yourself." He said, she looked at him and shook her head, "I have tried to heal myself. Didn't work." She said.

"Maybe you just needed more water" He said.

"Zuko… please just leave" she said quietly. "Before you hurt me again" she whispered while holding her wrist.

Zuko decided it was best to leave her, so he left the room. She took this moment of alone time to take a shower, she bathed for about an hour. Making sure she was completely clean. She combed her hair until it was fully untangled. She wrapped a towel around herself and walked back into the room. Although someone else was there, it wasn't Zuko. It was one of his guards,

"Hello…?" she asked.

"The prince requested me to bring you this jug of water." He said.

"Just set it wherever" she said with a sigh, Zuko was so stubborn. She told him that the water didn't heal her but yet he insisted on someone bringing her water.

She turned around and bent over to picked up her dress, she then realized that she was being stared at. She spun around and caught the guard with his eyes lingering all over her body. She shuddered, "You can go now" she said stuttering a bit.

She watched him click back into reality, he nodded and left, she let out a sign of relief and got dressed. She walked over to the water given to her by the guard, it wouldn't hurt to try. She bended the water and healed herself. This time it worked, her wrist felt better and the mark was gone. She smiled at herself before hearing the door start to open again. She looked over in a bit of fear but it was only Zuko.

He walked in, grabbing her wrist. "You healed it" he said.

"You were right, I needed more water" she said. They shared a glare for about 2 seconds before he let her hand go.

"Thanks for the water" she whispered.

"So what's there to do here" she said, "its boring just being locked in here all the time."

"You can at least let me wander around"

He laughed a bit, "and risk you trying to run away?"

"I won't, I am fully aware that I can't escape unless the avatar turns himself in," she continued, "Just let me have some freedom"

"You're nothing but a prisoner" he added.

"Are the other prisoners going to get you to the avatar?" she asked.

"no"

"Then let me" she said.

Zuko made a groan and a mad face, he got up and started to walk out of the room. Then she realized that when he left, he didn't lock the door. She smiled and after a couple minutes she decided to explore.

She walked out of her room, it was in a big hallway. She walked passed the hallway and entered a big room, guards everywhere. Some of them stared at her, others continued their duties, she was going to continue walking around but thought it was best if she just returned to her room. She must've taken a wrong turn because she was soon lost. She wandered around but couldn't find the room she was put in, she had found the guard area, the prison cells, and a bunch of other places but just not her room.

She then felt a grasp on her shoulder, she turned around quickly to face a guard.

"You lost?" he asked.

"yes… a little" she said

"I'll take you to your room." He said while turning around and walking.

"Wait" she said, "How do you know where my room is?"

"I was one of the guards that took you to your room when you first got here"

"Oh. Of course" she said while following him. She took a note of all the turns and the correct ways to get to her room.

"Thank you" she smiled at him, he nodded and headed off to wherever he needed to be. She walked into her room and seconds later Zuko walked in,

"What were you doing with that guard?" he asked.

"What?" she said.

"Why were you with that guard?" he repeated.

"Why does it matter?" she argued.

"Answer!" he yelled.

"I got lost and he was just showing me the way back" she said, "There is no reason to get mad over such a simple thing" Why was he so angry? Why did he have such a temper. Its like he had no control over his emotions, and he let them flow free. Especially his anger.

"Next time don't get lost." He said sternly.

"You get so angry" she whispered.

"And?"

"and it's scary" she said quietly.

"How is it scary? Everyone gets angry. You do." He said back.

"Yea… but I don't hurt anyone" she responded quietly and calmly, she wasn't trying to start another argument.

"I didn't mean to burn you" he mumbled.

"But you did, and it hurt." She said.

He didn't say anything, he didn't apologize either. She looked at him, she felt anger because even after she told him what he had done he wouldn't apologize. "You should leave" she said.

He got up and left, she plopped onto the bed thinking about things, she knew she wasn't going to leave soon, but she also knew that Sokka and the others were after her. She knew that even if she couldn't escape on her own, she could escape with her friends. She dreamed of the day they would help her escape, even if it was days, weeks, or months away. But she knew that she wouldn't allow Zuko to get his hands on Aang.

She woke up very early this time, no one was up she thought. The moon was still out but it was about to set. She walked out of her room and found her way to the deck, the moon was a crescent, yet it was still so powerful. She leaned against the railing and stared up into the night sky that was quickly changing into day as the sun started to rise. She returned to her room before the sun rose.

She walked in and Zuko was in there, "Where were you?" he asked angrily.

"I was just outside" she said, "I was just looking at the sky"

"Why?" she asked.

"I don't want you to get hurt." He mumbled

"Why do you care anyways?"

"Because" he said

"Because what?"

"The avatar wants you in one piece." He stated.

"Sure" she said.

"What?" he shot back.

"Im just saying, you seem to care about what happens to me" she said.

"Trust me, I could care less about you" he scolded. How could she think he even cared for her? What a peasant.

"Explains why you actually gave me a room instead of a cell, or how you personally bring me breakfast every morning, or how you seemed very concerned when you burned me" she mocked.

"You're delusional." He spat out.

"Maybe" she said while laughing a bit.

"Why do you want the avatar so bad?" she said, "what do you gain from it?"

"My honor" he said.

"How so?" she asked.

"Don't ask about it" he said.

Then, the door opened again. Revealing a man, an old one.

"Finally Zuko, I found you." Said the old man.

"What do you want Uncle?" Zuko said.

Katara looked a bit confused at both of them, she never knew he had an uncle.

"You have an uncle?" she asked

"Call me Iroh" said Zuko's uncle.

"Nice to meet you Iroh" she said while shaking his hand.

"What do you want uncle." Zuko repeated.

"I was wondering if you were to come down to breakfast, it's the most important meal of the day" Iroh said while smiling.

"I'll be there in a second" Zuko said

"Is she coming?" Iroh asked.

Zuko laughed, "No. She is a prisoner"

"She is a prisoner? And she has a room?" Iroh said.

Katara laughed a bit, at least Iroh could see that she wasn't really treated like a prisoner.

"Besides, what would she even wear. She doesn't have anything good to present herself with" Zuko said.

She looked at him with an evil glare, "Sorry I'm not fancy enough for you" she mocked sarcastically. He gave her an angry look before looking off somewhere else.

"Nonsense Zuko, the boat has plenty of dresses to spare" Iroh continued, "I'll give…" he stopped talking and looked at Katara.

"My name is Katara" she said while looking at him.

"I'll give Katara one before breakfast is served" Iroh said.

Zuko leaned his head back out of frustration, "Gee, thanks Uncle"

Iroh smiled and left the room.

"You and your uncle are very different" Katara said.

"No… really? I have not noticed." He bickered.

"He's so kind, and you are…" she paused, looking for the right words to finish the sentence.

"Horrible?" He said finishing her sentence.

"I didn't say that" she said quietly.

"But you were going to" he argued.

"No I wasn't, lighten up a bit Zuko" she advised.

He smiled a bit before leaving.


	4. Glares

Updated 2 chapters today since I forgot to update tomorrow, enjoy!

 **Glares**

Katara had just finished taking a shower, she stepped into her room and saw a dress lying on her bed. It was a small dress, it probably went above her knees, probably leveling with her thighs. She dried herself off and tried on the dress, she was right, it indeed went above her knees and it was right below her hips. The bottom of the dress was just a bit poufy and the top part around her chest was tight.

She stepped out of the room and made her way to the room where everyone ate, she had found it before when she got lost. She made her way down hallways, the boat was a confusing place but she was learning it.

She walked into the room and saw where Zuko and his Uncle sat. As she made her way over there she realized how many guards were staring at her. She suddenly felt uncomfortable, so many people just glaring in her direction, some at her face, others at her body. She knew well that men wanted certain things from women, but she didn't think much of it until now, she was probably one of the few women on the boat that was filled by men. She heard whispers of the guards as she walked by, speaking of what they would do to her. She felt disgusted, but then again what else did she expect from wearing something like this? The dress was short, showing most of her smooth tan legs, and it was tight around her chest area, bringing out her round and mature breasts, but still she felt uncomfortable.

She finally reached the table Zuko and Iroh were at, she sat down and started looking around to see all the men who quickly looked away when she made eye contact with them.

"You ok Katara? You seem rather uncomfortable" Iroh said.

"I'm… fine" she mumbled.

"How was your day?" Iroh asked.

"F-fine" she said while trying to keep her head away from the looks she was receiving.

"Are you sure you are fine?" he asked once again.

She turned her head to face Iroh, she forced a smile and nodded.

Although the way she positioned herself was a well sign that she felt uncomfortable, the way her legs were closed tightly, how she used her hands to try and cover her thighs, and how she used her long hair to cover her entire chest area. But it didn't matter what she did, because there were some guards who kept looking. She looked them in the eye, hoping that they would look away but all they did was smirk at her. This made her feel more weird than ever, she didn't want to be there. Accepting Iroh's offer for her to join them was a mistake, she wished that she was locked in the room she had again, away from everyone. She felt a knot form in her stomach.

She understood that the crew hadn't seen a female… a woman, in a very long time. And they have needs and they would do almost anything to get it, some men have more honor and treat women with respect, but others do it by force. And she could tell almost everyone on this boat would do it, with or without her permission. She felt vulnerable and awkward, she wanted to just leave and never see those guards again.

"I'm going to leave. Thank you for the offer" she said stuttering and got up quickly,

"You haven't even eaten yet" Zuko said.

She didn't say anything because by the time he said that she was already rushing her way out of there, as soon as she stepped out of the dining place she ran to her room and shut the door. She frantically paced back and forth in the room, wondering what to do.

 _Team Avatar_

Aang sat quietly in the woods, meditating and trying to relax himself. He tried hard to clear his mind, and just open himself up to calm himself, but he couldn't. Too many things were going in and out of his head. Then he let out a loud scream and blew wind all over the place, knocking down trees and everything that surrounded him.

"What's up with you?" he heard

Aang didn't need to turn around, he already knew who it was.

"What do you want Toph" he said.

"Well… I came to check on you"

"I am fine." He stated

"Really? Because you just screamed while meditating, which I am almost certain isn't what is supposed to happen when you meditate" She replied.

"I am fine" he restated, but more seriously this time.

"Which also explains why you blew wind everywhere? And numerous trees got knocked down too" she responded.

"Tell me, what's wrong?" She said while inching closer to him.

"I think by now it would be obvious" Aang said, "It's my fault Katara got kidnapped" he mumbled.

"Don't beat yourself up Twinkle-toes. It could've happened to any one" Toph said.

"Even you?" He asked

"Yes, stop stressing over it. Even Sokka couldn't save her" Toph went on, "Besides, I'm sure she would rather have herself captured then to have you get captured"

Aang sighed, "but I had her, she was next to me running, how could I be so stupid to loose her?"

Toph let out a sign of frustration, he still wasn't going to get over it. "The trees were on fire, there was smoke and you were running. The fire made noise, your running made noise and the smoke slightly distorted your vision. You probably didn't hear her start to slow down"

"What about her screaming" he murmured.

Toph kicked the floor "Do you want to feel better or not?"

"I don't think I deserve to feel better" Aang said

"Stop it! It's not your fault" Toph said.

"What if she thinks it's my fault? He said sadly

"She won't, she has been there for a couple days now. I am sure she would love to see us" Toph said.

"I'm just scared" he admitted.

"Of what twinkle-toes? You are the Avatar, if anything the world should fear you"

"But some things are out of my control." Aang said before continuing, "Just because I am the avatar doesn't know I will track Katara down to where she is exactly"

Toph moved closer to him, making eye contact, "We will find her, I know we will."

Aang smiled at her, "Thanks Toph"

"No problem twinkle-toes"

 _Zuko's boat_

Katara was still walking back and forth in the room, she decided it would be best if she changed out of her dress and back into her regular dress she wears. She went and rummaged through the dresser next to the bed, but she couldn't find her dress. _Damn_ she thought, she kept looking through every drawer but she didn't see her dress.

She then heard footsteps outside the door. She turned her head in confusion. Maybe it was just guards passing by. She continued to look through all of the dressers, and then she started to search through the closet, she heard footsteps again.

She looked at the door and saw the door handle start to turn, the door opened and she saw a man.

"Zuko?" she said, before realizing that it was not Zuko.


	5. Save Me

**Save me**

Katara looked closer at the face, she did not recognize him at all, in fact he wasn't wearing the guard armor the guards wore on the boat. It was still armor but not the same type of armor, it was different and it looked much more protective. Almost as if it were an upgraded version of the guards armor.

"Hello?" she said

The man stepped closer to her, he didn't say anything but smirked a bit.

"Why are you here?" she said without trying to show fear in her voice, but she couldn't help to be scared. He just randomly walked into her room, saying nothing but getting closer to her by the minute and not to mention that it was late at night by now.

"Y-you shouldn't be here…" she whispered as calmly as possible.

He looked up at her and smirked, he made eye contact, "And why is that?" he said while inching closer and closer.

"It's late… there's no reason for you to be in here." She said while stuttering.

"I have a pretty good reason" He said

"Please… go" she choked out

"I don't really want to" He said in a cold and stern way

She took a moment to look at him, she couldn't really see him well, he had sideburns and was older than she was, an adult. He wasn't a guard as he was not wearing the guards armor but he was wearing a type of armor.

He was tall, big and his muscles were very visible. He was those type of people who are bulky, too bulky, like those bodybuilders who exercise too much, and Dark brown hair, he looked very strong. She should've run right now, no way she could fight that man, even if she was a bender.

"Get away" she stuttered. The man didn't listen, he kept moving closer and closer, so she kept moving more back and back. She felt a wall behind her and realized that she needed to run somewhere else or else she would be trapped.

She made a run for the door but he grabbed her hand and pulled her back.

"What do you want?" she gulped, she was shaking, she was so afraid of what was to happen.

"you" the man said while smirking,

"It's been a while… since I've had the company of a female" He said

"And you, so beautiful and you're features show how much of a woman you are, you'll be perfect"

She shivered at his compliment, although she didn't take it as a compliment. She knew exactly what he meant by 'company of a female'

She knew she was in trouble, she knew what he would do, she had to think of something fast.

But she couldn't do anything. He was just so tall and buff, but she could try, she tried to release herself from him, didn't work. She waited until he got distracted and yanked hard on her arm, she was free of his grip, although it hurt she needed to do everything possible. She quickly bent the water from the air and aimed it towards him, she threw it while turning it into ice mid-air.

He easily dodged it, "You're going to have to try better than that" he laughed.

She moved backwards far away from him. He started to move closer to her once again, She ran to a different direction, turning back and bending a water whip to strike at him, he simply moved out of the way to continue getting closer to her. She froze the water she sent at him, attempting to freeze him or at least slow him down.

Yet he continued to dodge all of the water attacks she sent at him. He jumped towards her and grabbed her with both of his hands "Enough" he growled. She looked at him, trying to squirm away but he was too powerful.

Running wasn't an option, fighting wasn't an option. But there was one more option she could do.

She opened her mouth and inhaled sharply, "H-" she screamed before being cut off by the man putting his hand over her mouth, She couldn't yell help anymore, he blocked off any possible way she could get herself out of this situation. She felt helpless, she couldn't even defend herself as a master waterbender. She was weak, he had this entire thing planned out, every answer for every way she tried to get away. But still she wouldn't give up.

She started kicking and scratching him as much as she could, he took her and shoved her against a wall, hard. She whimpered in pain, her back hurt like hell now. He let his hand go off of her mouth, before she had a chance to scream again his lips crashed into hers. He kissed her hard, it hurt.

"Please… stop" she begged.

He smirked at her and kissed her again, more rough.

"Stop" she begged while tears start coming out of her eyes.

She turned her head the other way to avoid him but he used his hand to turn her head to face him and he continued to kiss her. She struggled under his hold and tried to escape, but she couldn't. She felt a tear come down her face, _why? What did I do?_ She thought. His hands started to slowly trail up her waist to her chest. He ran his fingers over her shirt and slowly started to take it off, before he was able to even pull it down she took her legs and kicked him. He groaned, "You're going to wish you didn't do that" he said angrily.

He let go of her for a moment, and she took advantage, she swiftly slapped him in the face, hard.

"Damn" he said angrily, she sure can slap hard. She shoved him off of her while he was trying to recover from the hit she delivered.

He looked at her with anger, "You'll see me again" he said before running off. She watched as he left the room but still keeping his gaze at her, she didn't know why she still hadn't called for help. She was actually going to do it if he didn't put his hand over hers but when she slapped him she could've, when he was weak and when she shoved him off she could've yelled. But doing so would've probably been worse, imagine, having to tell whoever came in to help her that she was taken advantage of? How awkward would that be, and it would cause even more problems. The entire ship would know of it, people would know that she couldn't defend herself against someone, people would take advantage of her more knowing she needs help to fight someone off.

Realizing she would have to keep it a secret, she felt even more weak. By keeping it a secret she would have to live with the fact that someone tried something with her, and would probably do it again, she wanted to tell someone, but it wouldn't do any good. And if she told people she would risk herself.

She fell to the floor, crying. She hit the floor with her hands numerous times, her hands started to ache in pain, but it didn't matter. It couldn't be as worse as the pain she felt right now. She held her necklace around her neck, _where are you when I need you, mom?_ She said while more tears started coming down. _What did I do, to deserve this?_

The door opened, she looked over at it in horror, but quickly turned away because this time it was Zuko. He rushed over to her,

"What the hell happened to you?" he asked.

She hugged him, she wasn't thinking much but she just wanted someone to comfort her. She had no one at this moment and she wanted to know that she wasn't alone, all she knew was that being this close to Zuko actually made her feel safe, and protected. She liked it a bit.

Although Zuko was slightly confused, he had been hugged before but, it had been a while. Last time he was hugged it was from Mai, but he broke up with her a long time ago. He had no idea if he should shove her off of him or hug her back, finally he wrapped his arms around her tiny waist and let her hug him.

"What happened?" he said trying not to sound too worried.

She sighed, she could tell him right…? Would he even help though, would he even bother?

She shook her head a bit and looked down at the floor which implied that she didn't want to talk about it. Besides, he wouldn't care, she is nothing but a prisoner and bait for the avatar. He could care less of what happened to her, all he wanted was the avatar.

"It doesn't matter" she said.

"Yes it does Katara, you're crying" he whispered while breaking apart the hug and looking at her.

She wiped away her tears with her hand, "I'm fine" she lied, "besides its not like I'm fully crying, its just a bit of tears"

"Define 'just a bit of tears' because you could probably bend a wave of water from your tears" he said.

"You said you were fine at breakfast, clearly you aren't. Tell me. What's wrong?" he asked again.

She looked down at the floor, "I am fine" she repeated, she tried not to cry again as the memories flushed through her mind again.

He walked away from her, "You need some rest then" he said.

She panicked, she couldn't be left alone. The man said he would come for her again, she would be so vulnerable in a room by herself, especially if she would be sleeping.

"Please don't leave me here alone" she whispered.

"Why?" he asked.

"Can I just… sleep in your room?" she asked, she had no where else to go. And she would rather sleep in Zuko's room than to risk that man coming to her again.

"My room?" he shot back, he was a bit confused on why she asked.

"Yes…please, just don't ask why" she whispered, hoping that he wouldn't question her on it. He wouldn't want to know why she cried, he didn't care did he? Why would he anyways.

"I suppose" He said while opening the door, she followed him to his room. It was a big room, well furnished. A big elegant bed with fancy drawers, carpets, seats, couches, and curtains.

"I'll just sleep on this couch" she said while starting to sit on the couch

"You can sleep on the bed." He said.

"W-with you?" she mumbled.

"If you want" he said while looking into a different direction.

Katara stayed quiet, she didn't know if she should accept or not. He was a 16 year old boy after all.

"okay" she said while climbing into his bed, she laid down but kept her distance, he was on the far side and she was on the other. She fell asleep quickly.

 _Morning_

Zuko was the first to wake, he was still tired so he didn't open his eyes, he had them closed and he was resting. The sun must have already risen because he felt incredibly warm, which was weird because usually he always woke before the sun rose. He quickly realized it wasn't the sun that had risen because he felt something else, he felt something warm pressed up against him. His eyes shot open and saw that Katara was next to him, she was facing towards his chest and she was snuggled into him while his arms were around her. She was breathing slowly, her warm breath was sending shivers up his spine, he froze in that second.


	6. Tell me

**Tell me**

Zuko quickly took his arm off of the waterbender and sat on the edge of the bed.  
Katara was awakened at the sudden movements, he heard her yawn and hoped that she didn't know of what had happened.

"You woke me" she said while still yawning.

"Sorry" he said.

She made a noise of frustration and dug her face into the bed while covering her ears, wishing she would go back to sleep.

"Are you coming to breakfast with me and my uncle?" he asked, her eyes shot open and she instantly sat up. She can't, she couldn't. She won't, she didn't want to go back into that room, where there was pure men in there except for her. Who knew if that one guard was there? Or more? They would stare at her again.

"No" she said, "I will be fine here."

"You aren't going to even eat?" he said giving her a weird look.

"No. I'm not hungry"

"Will you eat later?" he asked

"Yes" she lied, but it wasn't a full lie, if eating required her to go out of the room then no, she won't be eating. If she could eat the food in the room then yes she would eat. Otherwise she didn't plan on eating, or leaving the room.

"Ok" he said as he headed for the door, he stepped outside and was about to close the door.

"Zuko" she said quietly. He turned around her and looked at her, as if giving her a look of saying 'what?'

"Can you… lock the door?" she said, "please"

He gave her a confused look, "why?" he asked.

"Just… because" she said, she still wasn't going to tell him anything of what happened.

He was hungry, and he did not feel like wanting to argue with the waterbender at this early in the morning. So he decided to just not ask any questions and lock the door.

As soon as he left she let out a sigh of relief and safety. She was safe.

After hours of being locked in the room, she had started to grow hungry. She didn't care, she shoved all the thoughts she had of just sucking it up and leaving the room to go eat deep down.  
She could just drink water meanwhile, she could live off that while she thought of something else.

The door opened and Zuko's uncle walked in,

"Why haven't you eaten yet?" he asked. "You've not eaten since breakfast and its almost dinner"

"I am not hungry" she lied, that was probably the biggest lie she has ever told anyone. She was so hungry she swore she could die of starvation, she felt an incredible pain in her stomach from not having anything in there. She would squeeze her stomach with her hands and try to subdue the pain but nothing worked, it only got worse by the hours, and then by the minutes. The more she walked the more it hurt, she wanted food badly, but that didn't mean she would risk herself for it. Even though it hurt she knew she couldn't die from just not eating for a few hours, or a day. The body was stronger than that, she could just eat tomorrow.

"Is something bothering you Katara?" he said while pouring some tea into his cup.

"No, why do you ask?" she pondered.

"Well, yesterday at breakfast you seemed very uneasy, and extremely uncomfortable. You left before even touching food and Zuko told me about how you wished to have the door locked while he was gone." He paused a bit to take a sip of his tea before continuing, "is something, someone bothering you?" he asked.

Katara bounced back a bit by his question, was it that obvious of what had happened? Of course Zuko didn't recognize but his uncle did, yet even after he had asked her if she was having problems she still couldn't spill, not to Zuko, not to his uncle, not to anyone. It was something she would learn to keep to herself, she wouldn't tell anyone, not even Aang or Sokka, or Suki and Toph. This was something she needed to just forget about, and if no one knew it would be easier.

"No, I am fine, really" she lied again.

"Then will you at least come down and eat something" Iroh asked.

"No" Katara said almost a split second after he asked her that, "I will be fine Iroh. You don't need to worry for me" she said while smiling to try and drive his suspicions away.

He smiled back at her and walked out, as soon as he did she instantly wrapped her hands around her stomach to try and ease the pain. She tried hard not to look like she was in pain but she was, she usually ate well and balanced every day but today she hadn't eaten anything, it was dinner at the moment and the only thing she has in her body is water.

She felt nauseas, she felt dizzy and lightheaded. She felt her stomach swirling in non-stop circles, she felt like she was going to vomit. And she did, she felt like something was traveling up her stomach and up her throat. She ran to the bathroom and vomited in the toilet, she wanted to eat, she needed to eat. She headed towards the door to get some food but realized it was locked.

"Damnit" she said forgetting that she asked Zuko to lock the door and that he told his uncle so his uncle also locked the door. Now she really had no choice, who knew how long Zuko would be out doing whatever he wants or needs to do.

Unfortunately whatever he had to do must take a long time, because the moon was rising and he still had not come yet, and she was worse than ever, she could eat anything at this point.

She was feeling light headed again, this entire time she had spent her time in the bathroom with her head leaning against the wall near the toilet just in case she felt like vomiting. She reached over for the toilet and vomited again, she knew that vomiting was a common symptom for not eating for a long time because she had seen it in the southern water tribe whenever their food source became limited.

She heard the bathroom door creak just a bit and she weakly turned around, 'curses' she thought. Now Zuko had seen the state she was in, he was going to ask so many questions, pressure her into telling him something about why she had been acting so strange.

Zuko grabbed her and spun her around fully, "Tell me what the hell is bothering you" he said sternly, "And don't lie to me, look at you. There's no hiding that something is up"

Katara remained quiet, she felt so weak and dizzy, like the world itself was spinning and her stomach hurt with an unbelievable pain. She crumbled into his arms, she fell weakly into him and he allowed her, holding her so that she wouldn't fall.

He picked her up and carried her to a seat.

"You haven't eaten at all today, have you?" he asked.

Katara gently shook her head,

"You're an idiot" he said.

"I would rather be an idiot" she whispered softly, 'than to be touched again' she thought in her mind but didn't say it.

"Than what? You would rather be an idiot than be what?" he asked.

She didn't respond to that. She just tried to focus on making the pain go away. He made a noise of anger and walked out of the room, minutes later he came back in with some food and he set it down next to her.

"Thank you" she murmured while starting to eat.

"Will you tell me whats wrong with you?" he asked knowing well that she would probably just say no again.

And he was right, "No" she said.

"why?" he asked

"Because" she paused before speaking again, "why would it matter to you?"

He stared at her for a while before turning away, she had a point, why would he care about what was going on about her? Why would he? She is just a water peasant who serves as nothing but a bait for the Avatar. Yet somehow seeing her like this somewhat pained him, he just wanted to at least help her somehow.

She scoffed, she knew it, she knew he wouldn't care. He had asked and she responded by testing him, asking him why would he even care and he turned around. He didn't care, he didn't want too, she was a pawn in his quest for honor and that's all she would be. Gods, how she wished the team would just find and save her already.

"I do care" he whispered

She looked at him surprised, Prince Zuko? The one who had hunted her friend for months, the one who IS currently using her to get to the avatar. The banished prince of the fire nation, showing care for others? She stared at him for a moment,

"Even if you did care… I still can't tell you" she said

He turned away a bit frustrated, "Why won't you let me help you?" he asked.

"Because it wouldn't be for the best, it would make things worse"

"How so?" he said

"No more questions. I'm just tired." She sighed.

"Ok, we should get some sleep then" He said

"Yeah" she whispered, and she climbed into Zuko's bed and laid beside him. She kept her distance, she didn't want to be too close to him, but she was closer to him than last time.


	7. Scared

Next chapter will be up in 2 days, answering a questions from the reviews,

If I will upload daily, I either upload daily or every other day.

Will Katara tell Zuko what happened, Yes she will, Im thinking maybe chapter 10.

 **Scared**

Zuko was the first to wake, as usual. He got up to get ready for his long day, he went into the bathroom and then heard whispers. He thought someone had walked into the room but when he looked in the room no one was there but Katara who was still asleep. 'must be my imagination' he thought, but he heard it again. This time he stepped out into the room, his hand lightly placed at the handle of his sword, ready to pull it out if he saw anyone. But he realized the whispers came from Katara, he walked closer to her and saw she was still sleeping. She was sweating a lot and she was whispering things, she must be sleep-talking.

"Stop" she whispered very quietly.

"Please…stop" she said a bit louder.

"No" she whispered.

She was having a nightmare, was it wise to wake her up? She continued to say things about 'stop' and 'no more' he reached out to her, placing a hand on her shoulder to attempt to wake her up but before she did her eyes opened and she woke up as soon as he touched her shoulder,

Her eyes widened before screaming "Don't touch me!"

He instantly let go of her before stumbling back at bit, he gave her a weird expression. He watched as she immediately looked beside her and looked at the other side of the bed, then she turned in every direction, scanning the room as if there were people hiding in there trying to hunt her down. She sighed and calmed down as she realized no one else was in the room beside her and Zuko.

"Did I… have a nightmare?" she asked uncertainly.

He nodded continuing to give her a weird look. What was she dreaming of? Nightmares can be influenced by things that happen in your life that you see as a horrid memory, so why did she have such a horrible nightmare, the sweating, whispering, and the yelling. What happened to her? Surely she wasn't going to tell him but he was still curious.

"What was the nightmare about?" he asked.

"I can't remember" she lied, she remembered every detail and every second of that nightmare, like she remembers every moment of the events of her and the guard. Although she wished she couldn't remember it so perfectly, she did. She could tell anyone what happened frame by frame and she hated it. She hated being able to describe it just how it was because she hated even thinking about it. Her dream was exactly as so, she dreamt of being alone again, being fragile, him showing up. And her being able to do nothing about it this time. She felt so weak, she was Katara, a master waterbender, she was powerful and strong, and if anything the guard should've feared her… so why is it that she feels so vulnerable? She was strong, but now she felt weak, she felt like how Toph's parents viewed Toph, a weak, fragile girl incapable of taking care of herself.

"I don't want to remember" she whispered.

He looked at her a bit concerned, but shook it off.

"Are you coming down for breakfast?" he asked.

She gave an uncertain look, she had already made suspicion grow in Zuko and his uncle Iroh. Going to eat breakfast would make her look more normal, and they would think nothing is wrong.

"Yes… I'll be there in a while" she said.

"Ok then, I'm going to go now, I'll leave the door unlocked until you decide to come down" he said.

"On second thought… can you just wait for me?" she questioned.

"You want me to wait until you go?" he asked

"Yes, I won't take long I will just change, I took a shower yesterday so I don't need one at the moment."

"Make it quick" he said

She rushed into the bathroom and grabbed the nearest thing in the closet of things Iroh had left for her, one of the things she had grabbed was a crop top along with a skirt. 'great.' She said sarcastically in her mind. She combed through her hair and then stepped out into the room. Zuko's eyes couldn't help but linger just a bit down her body with the clothes she had picked out. He had to admit, Katara was indeed very beautiful. But that didn't mean anything, thinking people were attractive doesn't mean you have feelings for them. He drove those thoughts out of his mind and looked at her, she gave him a little nod to tell him that she was ready.

He opened the door and held it open for her, he shut the door behind them and they started their walk to the dining room.

He watched as Katara kept looking around every room they had passed by, or how she moved more closer to him whenever she saw a guard.

"You ever seen a guard before?" he asked teasing, "You seem scared by all the guards"

"You never know" she whispered

"What?" he asked

"Nothing" she responded and continued to walk close to him. As they walked into the dining room he realized how uncomfortable Katara looked, she eyed everyone closely like the entire room was filled with assassins that were after her head. She was so close to him, she had not realized that she was grabbing ahold of his arm a bit, when she did notice she quickly let go and put some space between them.

"Sorry" she said quietly.

"It's ok" he said a bit shyly.

Although Katara's uncomfortableness was clear to see, there were other things clear to see. Like, the way all the guards looked at her, with hungry eyes. Those guards haven't seen a female in a very long time. And they would certainly take advantage of her if given the chance, or any chance they get they would take it, by force or consent. He heard whispers of guards speaking of what they would do to her, and Katara must've heard too because she leaned closer into him again. He felt his blood boil for some reason at the thought of any of those guards touching Katara, he wanted to turn around and yell at any guard who would stare at her. Reminding them that she _wasn't_ here for lust purposes, and that if they even tried to do anything to her he would personally kill them, but he decided to do something else. In a swift movement he went to a guard and whispered something to him, Katara looked as the guards eyes widened and he ran out of the room.

As Zuko returned to her she looked at him, "What did you say to him?" she asked

He didn't answer to her.

"Tell me" she said

He looked at her and smirked a bit, "Why would it matter to you?" he said mocking her after she had told him that.

"Oh so you're going to play that game?" she said teasingly. They both laughed a bit before reaching Iroh and sitting down at the table.

"Quite a scene you two made back there" Iroh said eyeing them both.

"I don't think it was a big deal" Zuko said sternly.

"You did something to that guard" Iroh accused.

"So what if I did?" Zuko harshly shot back.

"What did you say" Iroh said in a calm voice.

"I'm not telling you"

"Fine then, _why_ did you do it then?" Iroh asked. Zuko's face got flushed a bit, why did he do it? Why did he care what happened to her, even if she was his bait for the avatar she still was a person, and she didn't deserve whatever the guards wanted to do with her. Even if there was a bit of him that actually didn't want any man staring or touching her, but Zuko didn't say any of that, Katara was right there sitting across from him, he could just tell his Uncle some other time, except for the last part of course.

"Anyways," Iroh began, "Katara I see that you're better now" he finished

Katara smiled at Iroh, "Yes. I was just feeling a bit under the weather" she added.

"Well, it's good that you're here with us now" Iroh said.

Katara made another faint smile and looked around the room for a second. She was looking around the room looking for a certain person. Although she didn't see him.

"Zuko, we are having a meeting with someone important. Be on your best behavior" Iroh said.

"Who is this person?" said Zuko

"Admiral Zhao is here"

Suddenly Zuko looked mad, and very frustrated. It was no secret that him and Zhao didn't get along, they both despised each other and they were both aware of that. Zuko didn't want anything to do with Zhao and he didn't want anything to do with Zuko.

"What? How long has he been on this boat?" Zuko bickered.

"Zuko, I know you don't like him but just try your best" Iroh reasoned.

"There is everything not to like about him" Zuko spat out angrily

Katara looked at the two of them, "Who is Zhao?" she asked.

Before Iroh could answer and tell her about who the Admiral was Zuko was quick to answer with his anger, "He's a horrible person" he said.

"I am sure there's nothing that wrong with him" she said.

"He is just a cold hearted person" he said.

"What's so bad about him then?" she asked.

"Everything. He even looks weird" he added

Katara laughed a bit, "Just because he looks weird doesn't mean he is a horrible person"

"I know, but still he is tall and he is just too ripped out. The man needs to learn when to stop working out" Zuko said.

Katara gave him a weird look, "Like he's _bulky?_ "

"Very, it doesn't look natural it looks weird.

"Does… he have sideburns?" she asked.

"Yea, why?" Zuko responded, and as soon as he did Katara's face went blank.

"You ok?" Iroh or Zuko said, she didn't know which of them said it because she was just in her own world. All of the memories had came back once again to replay in her mind, to taunt her once more. Could it be that the Admiral Zhao had advanced on her? No. Surely someone else on this ship could be tall and very bulky… with sideburns.


	8. It's him

I expierenced so much writers block on this one. o m g

 **It's him**

"I'm finished eating" Katara said while getting up

"Are you sure? You haven't finished everything on your plate" Iroh said

"I'll be fine" Katara said, "I ate most, I can just eat again at dinner. There is no need to be worried for me"

Iroh nodded and watched as she rushed out of the room while avoiding eye contact with anyone.

"So, how long have you liked her?" Iroh said.

Zuko shot him a weird look, "What?!" he said loudly.

"How. Long. Have. You. Liked. Her." He repeated more seriously.

"Who? What? Katara..?" Zuko said even more confused.

"Zuko, there's really no need to hide it." Iroh stated.

"You're talking pure nonsense, I don't like a peasant, much less a waterbender." He said.

"Oh but this 'peasant water bender' you care for" Iroh said while chuckling a bit.

"You have no idea what you are even talking about Uncle, are you feeling well?" Zuko asked trying to get out of the subject.

"Ok then, maybe you'll have no problem telling me what you told that guard." Iroh said

Zuko shrugged and rolled his eyes, he didn't have too, but if he chose not to his Uncle wouldn't quit pestering him about this topic, "All I did was tell the guard to back off Katara" Zuko said trying not to get angry by even remembering what the guard said he'd do to her.

"Just to back off? The man left the room running Zuko, I think there's more to it." Iroh reasoned

"there isn't." Zuko said in a serious and stern voice.

"Tell me." Iroh said with his voice getting just a bit louder.

"I told him I'd personally kill him if he even got _close_ to Katara! Is that what you wanted to hear!?" Zuko yelled.

Iroh looked at him and laughed, "So you were jealous?"

Zuko let out a deep breath, "If you must know, the guard was saying things to make her feel uncomfortable. Lewd things." He whispered.

Iroh looked at him surprised and choked a bit on his tea, "Oh" was all that managed to slip out from him, " _oh_ " Zuko began to stand up, frustrated with the way this conversation turned. He had just forgotten about the anger he felt about the guard and now he felt it all over again because his Uncle accused him of liking a waterbender. Can you believe? A firebender and a waterbender, in love… funny.

Before Zuko was about to exit the room he heard his uncle call his name slightly, he turned his head around barley but not enough to make contact.  
"You did good Zuko" He heard his uncle say.

Zuko nodded and left and headed towards his room. Katara was already in there,

"I would've preferred if you ate all of your breakfast" he said.

"why?" she asked, "Like I said I am fine, I can eat later"

He shook his head, "I have a meeting with the admiral, during the times of lunch so I won't be here for lunch. Unless you want to go eat on your own" he said.

She shivered a bit when he said admiral, and when he even suggested for her to go eat on her own in a room infested with eager men.

"What about you uncle Iroh?" she questioned.

"He needs to be at the meeting with me too" He said

She sighed a bit, " I can just wait till you come back then."

"Are you sure?" he asked

She smiled at him a bit, "Yea"

"So um, how long will you be at the meeting?" she asked

"I don't know, they usually last an hour or two, can you wait that long?" he said

"Yea"

 _An hour later_

Zuko walked back into the room, "hey" he said.

"Your meeting is done? How did things go with Zhao?" she asked.

"Yea… about that, Zhao requested another meeting… 30 minutes later" he said

"30 minutes…so I have to wait again?"

"Yea, sorry" Zuko said, "You can go eat if you want"

"No thanks, I am fine" Katara said

"No, last time you didn't eat you were a wreck, I don't want that happening to you again"

"I don't have a choice Zuko, you wouldn't understand" she whispered

"why can you tell me what's wrong?" he asked, but it was pointless. He has asked her what was wrong numerous times and she either said no or she just changed the subject.

"you could come with me"

"what?" Katara asked looking surprised. Did he mean go with him to the meeting? A water peasant isn't allowed to be at royal fire nation meetings, right?

"I said you could come with me, to the meeting" Zuko said

"Am I allowed to… you know since I'm not related to you guys in anyway, nor am I apart of the fire nation"

"Yea, you're allowed to come. You'd have to wear something fancy, my uncle can just get you something" Zuko said

Katara smiled, "thanks Zuko." He smiled back at her, "well I'll go ask my uncle to bring you something" he said before walking out. Meanwhile she slipped into taking a shower, she figured it would be a good idea to clear her mind of things. Like the fact that Admiral Zhao could be the one who did all those things to her that one night, but he couldn't be him right? What would an Admiral from the Firenation see in a Waterbending peasant?

Once she was done with her shower she stepped out with a towel wrapped around her, she was brushing her hair when the bathroom door opened.

"Hey here's the dress my uncle got y-" he said before stopping, Katara gasped a bit, "Zuko!" she yelled surprised.

"S-Sorry… I'll knock next time" he said while blushing a bit, there was no denying that Katara was beautiful. He left the room quickly and shut the door, once Katara was done she walked out and saw him sitting at the edge of his bed.

"So you were speaking of a dress? You know…before you walked in" she said, her cheeks turned a shade of red. She turned around to hide it

"Yea, it's on the seat over there" Zuko said while pointing to a chair

She walked over to it and saw a short white silky dress, "Give my thanks to your uncle" Katara said.

She picked up the dress and returned to the bathroom to try it on, once again it was tight around her waist, chest and hips. It went over her shoulders but still had cleavage. It was like the other dress except more revealing. Even with its tightness it still fit perfectly on her, she did a little twirl in it and thought it looked nice on her. She usually didn't like things on her, she felt insecure about herself but wearing dresses as fancy as these felt a little confidence.

She stepped out into the room, "Does it look fine…?" she asked Zuko. He didn't say anything except stare at her, she looked beautiful – no, she looked gorgeous. Katara looked down a bit,

"You don't like it…?" she said

"No, I do. It looks really pretty on you" he whispered.

She blushed, a lot. She smiled, "Thanks, Zuko"

"Well…we should get going now"

She nodded and he opened the door for her. They both walked to the meeting room together,

"You can sit here" Zuko said

Katara sat down and Zuko sat down next to her,

"Where is Zhao?" Katara asked

"He will be here soon, just don't say anything when the meeting starts" Zuko said, "I am not trying to be rude but trust me, you don't want to say the wrong thing in a meeting"

"I won't say anything" Katara said.

Suddenly the entire room went silent, everyone stood up to welcome Zhao, he walked into the room and was wearing a helmet. She couldn't see his face. He walked over to his seat and sat down, afterwards everyone else took a seat.

He then started to take off his helmet, when he did Katara's face went completely blank and horrified. The first thing she saw was sideburns. He looked exactly like him, she wanted to cry at that moment. She was in the same room as him, she felt sick. His glare wandered over to meet her eyes, her eyes widened a bit and he smirked at her. She quickly looked away from him and clenched her fists together.

It was Admiral Zhao, it's him.


	9. Once Again

Wouldve uploaded sooner but I was at my lil cousins birthday party the entire day, enjoy :))

Once Again

Katara clenched her fists and looked down, she could see Zhao still looking at her from the corner of her eye but he quickly resumed to the meeting. She kept her head down for the most part, until Zuko started to ask her questions. She felt a nudge on her arm, she turned around.

"Hey, are you ok?" Zuko whispered to her

"I'm fine" Katara said

"Are you sure? You seem like something is bothering you" Zuko said

"Just… what time does it end?" Katara asked

"I don't know, anytime." Zuko replied

Katara nodded and continued to look downward, every once in a while she would look up and catch Zhao looking at her and she instantly looked back down. She just went along with how the meeting was and hoped that it would come to an end soon. Then Zuko and Zhao engaged in a conversation.

"So Zuko, how goes things with finding the Avatar?" Zhao asked, Katara felt a bit of anger as she remembered what Zuko was really hunting for. But she remained calm, it seemed like he didn't even have a clue as to where he was.

Zuko remained silent to Zhao's question, "Oh, silent treatment hm?" Zhao said. Zhao's head shifted towards Katara's direction, "So, who's you're girlfriend?" he asked. Both Katara and Zuko's heads looked at Zhao,

"She's not my girlfriend!"

"He's not my boyfriend!"

Zhao looked a bit surprised at their sudden reaction, "Oh… I see. So who is she?"

"Why do you want to know anyways, Admiral Zhao?" Zuko asked while looking annoyed

Zhao chuckled, "No need to be jealous Zuko, I just want to be aware of who is at my meeting" he said

Katara's head was up, watching the two argue back and forth.

"Her name is Katara, and she's from the southern water tribe." Zuko said

Zhao looked over to Katara, "How is it over there?" he asked

Katara looked at him confused, "cold…" she whispered

"What do you do around there?" Zhao asked

Katara's hands clenched as she tried to remain calm, before she could answer Zuko interrupted them.

"This is off-topic Admiral Zhao, shouldn't we be discussing the real reasons this meeting was called for? Or is it pointless." Zuko said in a stern voice

Katara looked at him and mouthed 'thank you'

"I agree with my niece, we must resume the actual problems" Iroh said

"If we must" Zhao stated

 _Team Avatar_

Aang and the others sat in the middle of a forest, Aang and Toph were looking at a map, Suki was off gathering supplies and Sokka was pacing back in forth.

After another 10 minutes of doing the exact same thing they were doing Sokka spoke,

"This is stupid!" He yelled

"We have been looking for Katara for days now and we have found nothing! They can't just disappear like that?!" Sokka said

"Sokka, we are trying out best" Aang said

"Then where is my sister!" Sokka screamed

"Calm it there Sokka, maybe we haven't found her because we aren't looking in the right place" Toph said

Sokka lit up with fire at the sentence, "Right place! We have searched high and low all over this stupid island and have found no lead to Katara! If you think there is a place that we haven't looked for then please! Say so!" Sokka said angrily

"The water." Toph said calmly.

Sokka started laughing, "The water? Seriously Toph, that's the best you could do?"

She lightly punched him on the arm, "Idiot. You guys have been thinking wrong. Aang and I are the only ones who are actually aware of the situation"

"Wait what?" Sokka said confused

"Think about it, Zuko doesn't travel on land, he has a boat. Which means Katara is most likely somewhere on a boat" Toph added

"Oh…" Sokka sighed, "Can Appa fly for that long?"

"Of course" Aang replied

"We just have to gather some stuff, which Suki is doing. And we will start our search" Toph said

 _Zuko's Boat_

After about an hour, the meeting was over and everyone was free to return to whatever they were doing.

Zuko and Katara were walking back to the room,

"Sorry about Zhao" Zuko said

"For what?" She said

"He just randomly started asking you questions"

"Oh… its fine, he was just curious that's all" Katara said

"Anyways if you want to eat with my uncle you can"

"And you?" she asked

Zuko headed for the door, "I have things I need to do, It won't take long."

"Ok, I'll eat with your uncle then" she said and smiled

He headed out and she proceeded to look for something else to wear instead of the dress she was wearing now. There was a lot of clothes for her to choose, all thanks to Iroh. She decided to go with her simple old clothes, it reminded her of home.

She was on her way to Iroh when a familiar face stopped her, she knew who it was. No one else could be him, with his way too big arms, sideburns and that evil grin.

"Leave me alone" Katara said and she pushed him aside and continued walking

"I can't do that" Zhao said while talking ahold of her arm

She turned around and harshly yanked it from his grip, "don't touch me" she said

He smirked and quickly took her into his arms while he covered her mouth, her eyes widened and the next thing she knew he was taking her to the nearest room there was. He opened a door and locked it, he threw her inside.

She quickly got up and fought back, this time she would be more prepared she thought. She is Katara, he should fear her.

But his strength was too much compared to hers, he took her and threw her onto the bed. He started to undo her dress when she kicked him in the leg, he growled and smacked her across the face. She whimpered in pain but strode it off, she jumped off the bed, turned around and froze him. Dashing towards the door while he was unable to move and unlocked it, but not before Zhao had melted through the ice and took ahold of her shoulder.

"Not this time, _Katara_ " he said

She turned around to face him and he pinned her against the wall, shoving his lips onto hers. His hands slid up and down her waist to her hips. She was starting to tear up now, he had her held against the wall, one of his hands holding both of hers above her head and the other touching her body. Then the hand moved to the back of her dress, undoing it. It slid off of her shoulders before she held it back up to cover herself

"Stop it" Katara said

Zhao said nothing but laugh at her, and continued to try and get her dress off. He clashed his lips onto hers and grabbed her hands so her dress would fall more further down. With her hands pinned against the wall once again she could not stop the dress from falling, it stopped around her waist. She still had her bindings on however, and the dress was still covering from the waist down. His hands slowly made his way to the back of her bindings, her eyes shot fully open and she realized what awaited for her.

With both of his hands doing something busy, she shoved him off of her, catching him off guard. "Somebody, Help me!" she screamed. He quickly leaped towards her and covered her mouth, "Bad girl" he said.

Her tears were falling more and more, she was crying, she slipped out from beneath him and made a run towards the door, "Help me!" she yelled and she tried to unlock the door. He sprinted towards her and grabbed her, "this ends now" he said. She swiftly took her last chance to save herself and kicked him hard in-between the legs. He fell to the floor, grunting in pain. She squirmed back and far away from his hold. She heard footsteps running down the hall and so did he, he quickly made an exit before being noticed.

Seconds later Zuko had rushed in, he ran towards her side and took her in his arms, "Are you ok? The hell happened?" he asked worried

She started to cry even more and hugged him back tightly, and didn't let go.

"Zuko" she said

He grabbed her face and made them face each other, eye to eye. They were mere inches away

"Can I tell you something?" she asked

He wiped the tears that were on her cheeks and pushed her hair back, "Of course"


	10. The Truth

Busy af with school sorry :/ New chapter will be up in less than a week this time.

 **The Truth**

Zuko held Katara tightly in his arms while she cried, "take as long as you need" he said. He led her towards the bed where they sat down, she began to lift her face to look at him. He looked at her and saw a red mark across her face, "What happened to your face?" he asked

Her eyes averted to somewhere else into the room, her head turned slightly so she didn't face him and he saw hand marks on her neck. He quickly shifted her head to look at him, "Katara, why is your neck like that? Did someone…" he began

"I know what you're going to say" she said, "but don't say it"

"Yes, but-" she began before being interrupted

"Who!?" Zuko yelled, "I'll personally see to their death"

"You didn't let me finish, it didn't go _that_ far" she said before going back into his arms.

"Do you know who" Zuko said while trying to keep his anger under control, just the thought of one of his own guards touching Katara, or really he was mad that any man would touch her, or even look at her.

She mumbled "zhao"

"I didn't hear"

She mumbled again louder but he still didn't hear

"Tell me" he said

"Zhao…" she said, and as soon as she said that she could sense Zuko tense, she could sense him freeze, she could feel his body radiating heat. She could feel the heat on his skin.

"I'm going to go tell my guards to bring me Zhao." He said while starting to get up but Katara's hold on him tightened

"Zuko" she said

He stayed silent.

"Please, stay here with me" she said while starting to tear up again,

"I feel so scared and weak. He was so strong and I was trying my best to fight him off but it was pointless" she said

"I wondered if-" she said

"Shh, you don't have to talk about it" he said while stroking her hair, "I'll stay here with you for as long as you want me too" Since when did he become to affectionate towards people he wondered, he was always a non-social person and gave everyone the cold shoulder if they showed any interest in him. He tried to avoid getting distracted by people and focus on what he was really trying to accomplish. Although with Katara, it was different, he realized he was being much more caring. He got really protective of her when the guards were talking about her, and when she told him what Zhao had done he felt so angry. Could it be that he might've fallen in love

"I'm tired" she said, he let go of her and nodded.

She wiped her tears and laid down on the bed, they laid much closer this time, he could almost feel her breathing. She rolled over on her back and looked up at the ceiling, "What will you do to Zhao?" she asked

" _Unimaginable things."_ He responded with

He turned over to look at her, "How long did it last for?"

She took a deep breath before responding, "A week or more" she said

He quickly sat up, " A **week** or more?!" he said loudly

She put her hand on his bare chest, she opened her mouth to speak but quickly stopped before realizing where she had placed her hand, she had meant to touch his shoulder and explain him why, but she had totally spaced out. She noticed that she was staring at his chest, he was shirtless. He was muscular, and well toned.

"Katara?" came a voice

Her head shook a bit and she instantly took her hand away from his chest

"You ok? You kind of spaced out a bit"

"S-Sorry" she said

"Why didn't you say anything before?" he asked

She laid back down and flipped over

"You don't have to tell me right now" he said

She turned around to face him, I'm sorry" she mumbled, "I didn't think you would care"

"I care, a lot" he said although he didn't like admitting it

"Is that why you didn't want to come eat with me and my uncle? Were you afraid?"

She nodded her head

"Oh" is all he said.

"You're safe now" he said

"I always feel safe when I'm with you, Zuko" she whispered but he still heard.

 _Team Avatar_

"Guy's! Guy's I've got it!" Toph said

"Got what?" Sokka said

"The answer to where Katara is, dumbies."

"You know!?" Aang shouted.

"Calm it there Aang, we get that you're worried for your little girlfriend, no need to yell" Sokka said

"Ha! Funny joke Sokka, they're not dating." Toph stated

"They're not?" Suki questioned

"No, although he wishes that they were. Katara just keeps rejecting him"

"Shut up Toph."

"Do you want to know the solution to where Katara is and how to get her back?"

"Yea…"

"Then don't boss me around twinkle-toes."

"Anyways, its not a pretty sight. Zuko isn't going to just trade in Katara after we track him." She continued "it dosent work like that. To steal something, or someone, you probably want something in return"

"Well what do we have that Zuko wants? He's a prince, he can just afford it" Sokka said.

"I don't know Sokka, can you afford all 4 elements?"

"Aang?"

"Yes! Sorry to say it but Zuko will most likely want Aang in return for Katara." Toph said

"Which of course we wont do it but-" toph paused

"Of course we're doing it! Aang can figure a way out by himself, hes an airbender." Sokka said

"That's funny for you to say Sokka, you're her older brother." Aang stated

"And?"

"You're being protective"

"It's been 3 weeks! Almost 4!" He shouted

"Ok, stop! We'll figure out a plan. We are walking out with _everyone_." Suki said

 _Morning_

Katara's eyes fluttered open, the first thing that she saw was a pale color, and- She gasped. "I-I'm cuddling up to Zuko…in his sleep." She thought. Her hands where on his chest and her head snuggled into him, which his arms were wrapped around her. She didn't know if she should wake him or get up, both would be awkward. She just laid there, relaxing. She never thought about her feelings for Zuko until now, I mean she's certainly given thought to maybe she had developed feelings for him. But now she feels more, over the past few days she's been feeling something new, something she didn't feel for jet. Jet was just a crush, but Zuko… could she have fallen in love?


	11. Just a Pawn

**Just a pawn**

* * *

Katara woke up cuddling with Zuko, she felt so warm with her head tucked into him, and her hands on his bare chest. Her breathing started to become more tense the more she laid awake aware of what she was doing. She felt this strong feeling in her chest area, and she thought about if she had taken a liking to Zuko. Of course she could right? She was eternally faithful to her tribe, to her brother, to aang, to the whole gaang, and falling in love with their enemy, the person who has hunted aang down and attempted multiple kidnaps against him. Falling in love with _the fire nation prince_ would be like treason to those around her, good thing that wasn't happening anytime soon.

And yet, she still stay there, in his presence, in his arms. But before she could think of anything she felt his breathing become more ragged, he has awaken. She wished she had just gotten up before he had the chance to wake up. Now what would happen if he knew she had been awake the whole time? She tried to remain still, and make her breathing as calm as possible to give off the allusion that she had been sound asleep and didn't even realize the situation. She decided to look up discreetly with her eyes, but when she did she made eye contact with those traditional fire nation honeyed eyes, she shot her eyes back down and became instantly flushed.

Zuko chuckled silently, "Your face is red"

Katara instantly released from his grip and she tried to cover up her face, "It's nothing" she whispered, she tried to contain herself as much as she could, she got up and went to the bathroom. "What the hell Katara" she thought, "Why are you flushed? You don't like him! He's the prince of the fire nation for heaven's sake" she thought while pacing in circles in the bathroom. She heard a faint knock on the bathroom door, she instantly stopped what she was doing and listened. "Katara get ready for when they serve breakfast"

Katara felt weird when he said that, she has grown to dislike breakfast lately because of the men who haven't seen a woman in months, and of course Zhao. But even though Zuko is aware her problem and she said she feels safe around him she still doesn't want to go to breakfast, it would simply just make her feel horrible.

"Uh… no, I won't" She said, "I think I'll be fine"

"Katara, you haven't been to breakfast in about a week, all you eat is something I sneak out of the kitchen for you." he said worryingly

"Zuko, I'm fine, really."

She heard him sigh and leave, she waited to hear the main door close before exiting the bathroom, she laid on the bed and let her thoughts cloud her mind.

* * *

 **Breakfast area**

Zuko walked into the room and went to where him and his uncle occasionally sit, he sat down and saw his uncle make a confused look at him, almost searching the room for where katara was.

"She didn't want to come, uncle" he said with a sigh

"Give her time Zuko, she still must be confused" Iroh said while sipping his warm tea

"How much time? She's locking hersel from everywhere besides my room and she's not eating right besides a little here and there!" He said while standing up from his chair slightly

Zuko realized he had made a small scene, cleared his throat and sat back down.

"Sounds like Zuko caught the feelings for a waterbender" Iroh said while laughing, "The irony"

Zuko gave him a dirty look, "What is the meaning of that? I'll have you know uncle that when it comes down to the avatar and Katara, I'm choosing that airbending pacifist."

Iroh laughed, "keep thinking that" he said with a big smile on his face. "It doesn't matter if you accept it now, or later, but you care for Katara. You care a lot"

Zuko groaned and looked away as he continued to eat his food frustrated. His uncle doesn't know what he's talking about, he certainly hasn't taken a liking to a prisoner, bait, much less a waterbender. It would be like shaming his own nation, The _fire_ prince, falling in love with a lowly southern waterbender. What a joke.

But somehow most of his breakfast time he spent thinking about Katara, he wondered how she felt and if she was ever going to be ok after what had happened. He thought back to this morning, waking up with her in his arms, he _liked_ it and he knows that he shouldn't. He knows that he shouldn't feel a weird feeling in his chest everytime he thinks about her, or thinks of her being in danger. He shook these thoughts out of his mind and tried to think of something else other than the waterbender.

* * *

 **Zuko's Room**

Katara lay on the bed inside of Zuko's room, such a soft and silky bed. Made truly for a prince, the room colors that of fire nation with red and gold drapes. The room looked fit for fire nation royalty, as it is. She questioned a lot of things, like why she and Zuko were so close sometimes… but in the end she's just a pawn to his game of capturing the avatar, so why is it that her and Zuko get touchy? Why do they sleep on the same bed, why does he seem to care about her a lot but really it's probably just to get to Aang in the end.

After she had released her mind of all of her thinkings he decided to take a small nap, after she woke up Zuko walked in shortly afterwards.

"How was it?" she asked

"Eh, I wish you came" he said letting out a tiring sigh

She looked at him then looked at the floor as she started to mess with her hair a bit. She twirled it around her fingers and thought about saying something.

"Zuko?" she questioned

He looked at her without saying anything, but the look he gave told her that he was listening.

"Why do you treat me differently than the regular prisoners?" she said

He gave a confusing look, he didn't know the answer to that. Well in truth he had somewhat of an idea as to why but he has far too much pride to admit anything truthful.

"I dont know" he responded with

She looked at him frustrated, "does it have to do with what sometimes happens when we wake up or is it that you just like-"

""Wait. What are you implying?" he shot back

"I'm not saying that you do I'm just suggesting that mayb-"

"Don't forget why i captured you in the first place waterbender. You or what happens in the morning has no value to me, I'll trade you in for the avatar right now if I had the chance" he said angrily

"So I'm just bait? Bait for the avatar and that's it." she said, "Honestly what did I expect from a fire nation prince."

"Excuse me?"

"You're all born with riches and privilege. You are used to having fancy things, high quality. The fire nation royalty are a bunch of narcissistic snobs." she said back in defense

He grabbed her shoulders tightly, "Listen here peasant, you should've been happy I even gave you the privilege of what I did, you're acting like I was supposed to get soft on you. You're the one who wanted to sleep in _my_ room anyways"

"Fine then. I'll go back to the other room" she said while yanking herself out of his grip, as she exited and slammed the door she laid against the wall and let out a deep breath. She told herself that she should've just kept her mouth shut.

Zuko lay against his door sitting, why did he have to have such a big temper, he didn't know if what he did was good or bad. He felt like it was necessary, she needed to know that there could be nothing between them. Maybe know he will lose whatever pathetic thing he feels for her. So then he can focus more on the avatar, because in the end, he doesn't know if he would trade Katara for the avatar.

* * *

Ahhhhhh its been so long since an update, I'm sorry. I was thinking of making another encounter between Katara and Zhao, make a lil interesting with Zuko's protectiveness over katara added in;) give me ideas!


	12. Regret

It's been almost 2 months now since Katara had been captured, last memory she's got is from 2 nights ago, where she and Zuko had a big argument and she said she would rather be back in the prison cell. How foolish of her she thought, if she had just shut up for a minute she would awaken in a lavish bed right now, _in his arms_. Katara shook that thought out of her head, she had a long day of doing nothing in her cell but think if Aang or her brother were even coming to save her. Footsteps came, accompanied by the door opening, it was Zuko.

"Look who's decided to show up" Katara said teasingly, but really she was happy to be in his presence after 2 days.

"Shut up." Zuko spat out very sternly, he did not care for what she said anymore after their argument.

She looked at him confused, surely he wasn't still bugged by their little bickering that took place, she reached out to him,

"Zuko….I'm so-" she began but was abruptly cut off by Zuko's sharp actions and his hand clashing against her wrist to stop her from touching him.

"I said, shut up. Don't make me enforce it." he growled lowly while looking her directly in the eye, not breaking contact, not a spark of weakness or hesitance in his actions. Katara tore her hand away, she was angry now. It had been two days since she's seen him and he comes in still pissed? She has certainly cooled down by now.

"What the hell Zuko? Why are you so mad over something that happened? Why are you trying to igno-" she said before being cut off by the Prince's own words,

"Because you mean nothing to me!" he yelled while keeping his eye in lock with hers. She jumped back in fear a little, he yelled so loudly and so angrily.

"How much times must I say that you are nothing but a means to an end, without the avatar I am nothing!" he said as he slammed his fists against the wall, but this time it sounded more emotional, all this anger he carried with him now just seemed like deep emotional pain. He started to hold back tears as he opened his mouth again,

"This scar reminds me everyday that without capturing the avatar, I am a failure" he said quietly while leaving the cell, and locking it. Katara was appalled by this, she didn't even know what to say. Maybe because she has no idea what he meant by he was nothing, was Zuko really just an insecure person? He surely thought of himself as nothing the way he spoke now. Time flew by and the door opened again, determined to break through him Katara readied herself to say things to Zuko, but what came to place in front of her was actually Iroh. She sighed in dissappointment and greeted him.

"Not happy to see me, eh?" Iroh said while laughing.

"No.. not that, I'm just confused that's all. Was kind've hoping you would be Zuko" she sighed.

"Well I certainly heard him yelling earlier.." He said.

"You're nephew is a cold hearted bas-" she said but was cut off.

"You must be easy on him miss Katara, he's suffered quite a lot" iroh said

"Yeah right, say that to the fire nation soldier who took my mom away!" she mocked.

"I take it you do not know the story of his scar." Iroh said while sipping his tea quietly.

Katara's thoughts went blank for a second, come to think of it she never thought about how he got his scar, what caused it, or _who_ caused it.

"No.. I don't" she said cautiously.

"When Zuko was just a child… he unintentionally disrespected his father. Afterwich his father challenged him to duel, young zuko did not want to fight his father and rejected this duel. Fire lord Ozai then burned his own son in the face, and banished him forever….unless he him back the avatar" Iroh said with great sadness, the look in his eyes were filled with grief, his eyes started to glimmer as tears formed in them and his head faced down.

"I remember him screaming as the Fire Lord took unholy justice into his own hands" Iroh whispered as a single tear rolled down his cheek. On the other hand Katara wasn't doing so well, she had streams of tears rolling down her face. It all made sense now, the kidnapping, all the times he has attempted to chase down Aang, his determination. The reason he kept saying she was a means to the end, he wanted to protect himself from her so he could redeem himself to his father. He thought he was useless without his fathers approval but he was wrong, there was so much more to Zuko than that, and she was determined to prove it to him.

"Iroh.. tell Zuko to come see me, please?" she said softly. Iroh nodded and left her room. She wiped away her tears and calmed herself down so that her face wasn't as red or eyes puffy, as she was finishing the door opened.

"That was quick" she said as she smiled and turned around, but her smile quickly dropped as she saw Zhao standing in the door. Before she could act he plunged forward and covered her mouth,

"No yelling this time woman" he whispered into her ear, "You're all mine, that pretty face and body" he said as his hands undid her clothing.

Her face that she had just finished fixing after crying was now covered in tears again, she struggled against his grip, "weren't the guards supposed to bring Zhao to Zuko?" she thought in her mind. And why was Zuko taking so long? She kicked at his knees but nothing seemed to weaken him.

His hands finally were able to undo her dress, it slid off her and her undergarments were exposed to him. He took a moment to step back and stare at her, "So hot.." he murmured under his breath before going back onto her, his hand held both of her hands in one, while the other undid her bra, she screamed but they were muffed by a rag he stuffed into her mouth. His hand slid from her waist to her breasts that were fully exposed to him. He gripped one in his hand and squeezed it, he placed his tongue onto her nipples as she completely gave up on fighting. He had already done most damage to her, if she couldn't stop herself from this then she really had no hope.

Zhao saw how she stopped struggling against him and how she sadly looked at the floor, with his hand he raised her chin and looked her in the eye, "you pathetic whore, you won't even fight for your own dignity." he said as he continued to touch her breasts. His other hand slid into her pants and slightly rubbed against her, she cried harder as her hands were still bound and there was a rag in her mouth.

As Zuko walked to Katara's room after iroh telling him to he was confronting by a panicking guard, "S-Sir, Zhao has escaped from detainment" he said frantically. Zuko froze and his eyes widened,

"Have you checked on Katara?" Zuko said quietly. No reason to worry, the guards wouldn't be stupid enough to not check on katara.

"Sir… we checked your room but she wasn't in there, last we checked she stayed in your room so..?" the guard said while stuttering, it's not everyday that you have to report bad news to the prince of a nation, exceptionally bad news. The guard could be beheaded right now for failing simple instructions.

Zuko bolted across the hallway and to the room he had placed her in, idiot idiot idiot, repeated in his mind. How could he have not told the guards of her new room? If anything happened to Katara, he would held himself responsible. As he ran down the turns and doors he heard a scream, a scream from a voice that sounded familiar, he burst through the door and his heart sunk at what he saw. He wished he could go back in time and alert the guards of Katara's new cell, because the pain he felt in this moment was unbearable.

hey, havent posted in like... legit 2 years. Got super unmotivated but recently got back into it! here ya guys go :)


	13. Safe

Zuko's heart felt as if there were a million knives going through it, in half a second thousands of thoughts rushed into his head. "It's my fault. How far did he go? How could I be so stupid." He thought, he watched as zhao let go of her hands and she plopped to the floor, she didn't attempt to run to Zuko, she didn't cry, all she did was stare at the floor with her eyes sore from crying, her jaw sore from being stuffed with a rag so it could silence her pain, her screams. Zhao let out a chuckle.."You've come, finally" he sneered. Zuko's skin began to feel incredibly hot, his inner body felt as if he was on the sun, or in hell- no, this was far more worse than both of those things.

"Face me you coward!" Zuko told the man, Zhao spun around and smirked at Zuko, he started throwing punches left and right. Zuko dodged them efficiently and was able to hit him here and there, Zuko watched his footstep pattern carefully and was able to get through it, everytime Zhao was to make a mistake he would strike. Zhao then resorted to firebending, the room lit up in red, orange, and yellow hues as they unleashed fire back and forth. Zuko dodged a strike from Zhao and when straight for the aggressive route, reading to kick Zhao in the face but as his leg spun Zhao caught it, and punched him hard. Zuko stumbled back, his vision foggy for a second, as he fell to his knees he saw Katara not to far away, he saw her condition. How she had bruises on her face, her neck especially, and both her wrists were red. He saw how she was still alive, but looked lifeless- spiritless. She didn't look dead, it just looked as if she wished she were. His mind sparked with newfound rage, and _jealousy_ , just as Zhao was gonna hit him he spun around and punched Zhao right in the face with every last bit of hatred he had in him, Zhao fell back and touched his mouth as he realized he lost a tooth. Zuko who was right behind him was not done yet, there was so much on zuko's mind as to what he would do to him.

Katara who was still over in her little spot, staring at the wood floors, looking at her hands, and her bruised knuckles from punching Zhao repeatedly in an attempt to get him off. Even though she was pretty emotionless right now, something still caught her attention. This whole time she had been watching the room light up with red and orange, feeling the room heat up whenever they firebent, but this was different. As she stared at the floor she felt something more hot, almost as if she was under boiling weather. She looked up to see the room filled with dashes of blue, her vision blurry from the small tears that had never escaped her eyes. Yet she could still see Zuko who was fighting off Zhao for her, she could see all the wrath in his eyes, the way his hands had sparks of lightning all over them as he moved in a way that seemed as if he were to summon lightning. She then realized what he was doing, Zuko was going to kill Zhao right then and there, but before Zuko shot his prepared lightning the doors fiercely swung open and guards swarmed in and chained Zhao down. Zuko calmed down, as they stood Zhao up and prepared to haul him off Zhao had an idea. As Zhao was taken he looked at Zuko and smirked,

"You may have won, but I still broke her, and there's nothing you can do about it" he laughed

Zuko yelled at the guards to hurry up and take him off, what Zhao said hurt him, it was almost a piercing emotion he felt directly to the heart. It truly was his fault, if he had just let Katara stay in his room none of this would've ever happened. And who was the guard on duty that let him escape anyways? He surely should have a consequence. All he had to do was sit and make sure he doesnt get out of a prison cell. Zuko looked over to Katara who was half naked, Zhao had not taken off her underwear…. But it was still looking misplaced. As if Zhao had just put it back on himself. There was nothing in sight for her to wear as her clothes were torn, and he certainly didn't want to leave her alone or have her walk down the hallways naked to a nearby closet. He then took his shirt off and handed it to Katara while making sure not to look. She grabbed his shirt and slipped it over her.

"Follow me" he whispered to her as he walked over to the door and opened it and left, as soon as he exited he realized she wasn't behind him. He quickly went back inside and saw her, weakly standing against the wall. He gave her a sad look as he walked closer to her and was able to see all her bruises up close, he picked her up and carried her out the door. She lay in his arms nearly falling asleep. She just felt so weak, so useless. She placed her hand on his bare chest and the coldness of her hand against his heated body made him stop walking for a second and flinch.

"I didn't know you were so cold, I could've given you a blanket" he whispered to her softly as he continued to carry her to his room.

No response from Katara, all he felt was something wet against him, which he soon realized were the girls slight tears. He carried her a little closer as they arrived to his door. He lay her on his bed, "I'll sleep on my couch" he said as he laid right down. Katara lay on his bed thinking, she didn't know if she wanted him on the bed so she could feel safer next to him, or if she just didnt wanna be there at all, after her encounter she doesn't want any male touching her or even being near her. She felt so worthless, she got up from the bed and sat on the inside window sill. She stared at the moon which was a waxing gibbous. She thought to herself, where was her brother? Where was Sokka? He swore to father that he would protect her, and he swore to her that he would never let anything bad happen to her. Yet here she is, bruised and taken advantage of by the fire nations Admiral. And Aang, how foolish he was to think she could keep up with him, after all the trouble she went to protect him. To keep him safe. She went through dangerous landscape to even attempt to make sure of his well being and he dashes off into oblivion as soon as he is safe. But all that did was mean her demise. Tears flooding down her cheeks, eyes read and her hand slammed against the window, her forehead slightly touched the window as she cried out and looked up at the moon.

"Mom, please.. Protect me" she said as she cried so much she could choke. Suddenly a hand touched her shoulder, instant flashbacks came flooding through her mind, it always started with a firm grip on her shoulder, then her wrists.. And it just kept escalating from there.

"No! Please!" she yelled as she squirmed away from whoever was touching her.

"Shh" Zuko whispered to her as he released her shoulder, he stared down at her, gods what did Zhao do to her, she expects the worst from just a single shoulder grab. It pained him to see what he had done, all his doing since he trapped her here.

"It's just me" he said calmly. "I heard you crying, are you ok?" he asked

She scoffed, "No. I feel worthless and useless, my brother promised to never let anything bad happen to me, and aang…. Aang left me to die." she said as her voice grew more quiet as she spoke. More tears started streaming, "I ran into the woods, knowing you were there but I didn't care because all I cared about was Aang. I just wanted him safe, I wanted to know he'd be okay, would have done anything to make sure he was safe and sound." she said.

Those words hit a dagger through him for some reason, _she risked it all for aang,_ all she cared about was for aang? Maybe her and the avatar really are dating he wondered. His jealousy started to grow more as she continued to talk about how much she cared for him.

"And even after all that, the moment he is safe he…. leaves me. Like I'm nothing" she whispered as she swallowed her own tears. "I called out for him, I screamed his name hoping he would come back… grab my hand, pull me in and take me to safety. But he never looked back." she said. "Am I worthless Zuko? Be honest please, am I useless to everyone? I don't think I have any reason to be alive anymo-" she said before Zuko pulled her into a hug. She didn't know if she should have yelled or backed off but something about him hugging her made her feel damn safe. If it had been anyone else she would have instantly pulled away.

"I don't ever want to hear you say that." He said sternly while holding her. How could she think like that? She was- no, IS worth so much more than she could ever imagine. He stroked her hair slowly as she snuggled up against him, "I'm scared Zuko." She said

"You don't have to talk about it" he answered as he backed away a little and looked her in the eye, but he was still holding her. She looked up at him and made a faint smile and nodded. As she sat there in his arms she thought back to when he was in the other room, how he was going to strike Zhao with what it seemed lightning? She knew the form of sub-bending existed but she never really saw it in person.

"Zuko..?" she asked quietly as she looked up to him and they locked eyes

"Hm?" he said as he continued to run his fingers through her long hair.

"Back in the room… what were you gonna do to Zhao before the guards came in?" she questioned as her eyebrows formed a way of curiosity.

"That's not important right now." he asserted as he broke contact with her and turned around.

"It kind've is important, were you going to, you know.. Kill him?" she asked. She saw his fists clench as he struggled to remain calm, Katara got scared at what he might do, "Hey just forget I aske-" she started before Zuko cut her off.

"If you must know," he started before taking a deep inhale. "If it were not for the guards walking in, I would have burned him to a crisp. No exceptions, I would've seen the life drain out of his eyes because my hatred for him goes beyond anything I've ever felt after I saw what he did..to you" he said loudly. Katara didn't know how to feel, she usually listened to Aang's pacifists ways and believed that killing people really wasn't the way to go, but even then if Zuko had killed Zhao she wouldn't have cared. What he did to her goes past humane actions, she hated him. She despised him, she _loathed_ him, and she doesn't want any mercy to be shown towards him. He ruined her, why should he get to live?

Time caught up and Zuko shook his head, "maybe we should go to sleep now" he said as he started to lay down on the couch. Katara nodded and headed towards the bed, she sat on it and looked at the moon and held her moon choker before completely laying down. It still took at least an hour for her to go to sleep but she managed to do it.

* * *

 **Morning**

* * *

Katara awoke to the sun already up, she sat up and looked around the room but Zuko was nowhere to be seen. She instantly got out of bed, "Zuko?" she said, but no one answered. She knocked on the bathroom door, "Zuko?" she said a bit more loudly but no one responded. The door slowly started to open and she panicked, what if it was Zhao again? But her worries were put to rest, as a woman stepped in. She stared at the woman in confusion, she was certainly from the fire nation as her robes were quite fancy and red, tall and very slim, pale skin with gold eyes, black haired buns and a sharp facial structure. Who was this woman? She wondered

* * *

hey guyssss, looking to introduce mai into the next episode.


	14. Paranoid

**Paranoid**

* * *

Katara stared at the woman, she had never seen on the ship before. If she had she would certainly have remembered. The woman looked at her and scoffed, "What are you doing in here?" the woman says. Katara looks at her weirdly, why should she answer that? She walked in on her shouldn't katara be the one doing the questions around here?

"No, what are you doing here?" Katara said while giving her a challenging look. The woman laughed at her and was about to say something when she took a complete full look at her, katara watched as she looked her up and down, she watched her eyes go blank for a bit then widen. The woman saw how she was only wearing underwear and a shirt, with no bra. And she was laying in Zuko's bed? She rushed over to katara and grabbed her by the arm, "Who's shirt are you wearing!" she questioned loudy.

Katara grabbed her arm and flung it off of her, "Zuko's shirt. And dont touch me" she told her. The woman seemed as if she was ready to explode but Zuko walked in the door and instantly looked as if he suffered millions of shock waves as he saw the girl. She turned around and directed her anger towards him, "So you're sleeping with women now? What happened to wanting to wait till marriage?" she yelled at him. "Or was that just an excuse because you didn't want to-" she said before being cut off. "First off Mai, how did you even get on this ship? And who directed you towards this room?" he questioned.

Mai's anger rose even more as Zuko continues to stall out her questions, "answer what I said!" she yelled. Zuko sighed and told her how he slept on the couch, and how she's in here for her protection. "Protection from what, hm?" Mai said skeptically.

"I… need her to lure in the avatar" he said while hoping that Katara wouldn't hear as he didn't want to upset her at all. He watched Katara roll her eyes and look away. Mai's death stare suddenly lightened up as she smiled, "oh yes of course" she said ecstatically as she ran over to Zuko and hugged him while kissing him on the cheek. Zuko looked incredibly surprised, and Katara looked as if she'd seen something disgusting. "Yuck" she said to herself as she started to head out the door. "Katara you shouldn't go out like tha-' he started before seeing the door slam shut. He sighed and thought to himself on the inside, "Why in the heavens would she go out like that? She surely had a death wish."

* * *

As katara left she calmed down from her little jealousy spark, why didn't he say he had a girlfriend? Was she actually a girlfriend? She decided not to think about it and walked down the hallways. It was until now that she realized it'd been a long time since she breathed fresh air, all her times spent exploring the ship but not once did she think to visit the bow or the stern. She made it her mission to go up there and voyaged down the different rooms and hallways looking for the exit. As she passed by a room full of guards they all stared at her, she felt disgusted with herself as she remembered of how it all started. As she cleared her mind she wasn't sure if the staring it was for lustful reasons or if because she actually was crazy for being dressed like that, but she did not want to stick around to find out. She paced faster to any nearby doorway or hallway when she felt someone tap on her shoulder, she quickly turned around and saw a guard standing over her, her mind was lost in this moment but she saw her reaching out to him. She instantly went to yell "No!" but he quickly assured her that he wasn't here to do anything. She looked at him oddly and he explained, "You shouldn't be walking around like that. There's a closet around here if you want me to take you there." She felt relieved, but still reluctant, she agreed however but kept her distance. They arrived to the closet in no time and there were so many beautiful dresses in there, and alas, undergarments. She looked at all the fancy and almost royal looking long dresses, short dresses, anything you could imagine. She looked at this incredibly beautiful deep blue dress, that was short but it just standing out from the rest, it was almost like it came from a fairy-tale, silky and shiny. She thought of how it looked on her but then her mind went other places, " _what if this only draws more attention? What if this will only make men want her like Zhao did? You're asking for it at this point."_ She put the dress down as she looked around and found something that covered her up.

"I'll let you get dressed" the guard said while heading for the door, Katara nodded and thanked him for his kindness. As the guard opened the door he came face to face with Zuko, who instantly pushed him against a wall and threatened him. "What did you do to her!?" Zuko yelled menacingly, Katara quickly shoved him off of the guard, "Zuko stop he was just helping me" she said. "With what?!" Zuko shot back. "Getting dressed" she said. Zuko looked at her as if he was going to strangle someone, "You let a guard… assist you in getting dressed?" he said.

Katara sighed, "No not like that" she said defensively, is that really what he thought of her? Just some woman who goes around praying for men to advance on her?

"He was just directing me to a closet" she said.

"Katara you can't be so naive, what if this was just a trap?" he explained

"So what? Am I supposed to spend the rest of my life in this miserable imprisonment paranoid until my best friend spares his life for me?" she yelled at him as tears filled her eyes. She hated it here, she hated everything about this ship. Every memory that's held within this place only brings her more pain. Before Zuko could speak again she looked over to the guard, "Could you show me the way to the bow?" she asked. He nodded and they both disappeared into the halls. Zuko punched the wall and let out a noise of frustration, Mai quickly came to speak, "Why do you care so much for that woman anyways? Whats her name? Katana?" she said.

Zuko stared at the ceiling, "dear gods why did you allow Mai to cross paths with me again. It's like the annoyance is piercing into every inch of his body, who even let her on this ship?" he said in his mind. "Hello? Are you gonna answer my question" she said. "It's Katara. And I don't care for her" he said seriously. She looked at him mysteriously, "You seem very jealous and protecting over someone you supposedly don't care about" she questioned.

* * *

Katara walked onto the surface of the boat, inhaling the sweet air. Woodsy and misty, she loved it, she looked in all directions and saw nothing but pure water for what it seemed as ages. How long did she hope to see a flying bison, with Aang, and her brother Sokka, Toph, Sukki, anyone. Anyone who would come rescue her from this misery, but just as suspected she saw nothing. She figured she would just take these moments of fresh air in. It felt as if she could properly breathe, and yet with all this she still felt as if she was being watched. She would constantly looked in all directions but no one would be looking at her, she'd always have her hair covering her front and her hands in a protective stance, but no one seemed to want to do anything to her. She was- completely safe but in her mind she had endless possibilities of how everything could go wrong, how she could make the one to make it go wrong. She felt everything around her become dense, thick, like if the air was losing oxygen. She inched closer to the edge of the boat and gripped the railings. She looked down to a long fall, her hands sweating on the rail, "what if" she thought in her head before a hand pulled her away from the railing. She turned around to face Zuko.

"What in the hell are you doing?" he said sternly

"I.." she said as she lost her train of thought

"I let you onto the surface and you think about escaping?" he yelled

She looked at him weird, "How can I even escape?!" she shouted back,

"You're a waterbender don't act like you can't easily get yourself off here." he said

Unbelievable she thought, she was suffering so much, she in fact had _just_ been through something serious and his only concern are her escaping, not her well being? Not how she's doing? How she's holding up? She didn't even know what to say, she stumbled on her own words. She just felt more worthless, no one on this boat cared about her, absolutely no one. Only person who did seems to be Zhao since he had the most interest in being with her. Through all this thought she didn't even realize she had a single tear down her cheek. Before Zuko could say anything she walked away from him. She went back inside the boat, that wretched boat which she loathed so much. The sun was already setting, and she could feel the power of the moon coming up. She walked into Zuko's room just ready to sleep when she saw Mai in there. Her anger shot up, why is she even here? Ruining everything. She just wants to sleep and Mai is here.

Zuko walked in couple seconds after Katara and sighed, "Mai I said you were sleeping in a separate room." he said, she sighed, "Come on Zuko don't you wanna have fun?" she said while smirking at him. She shoved her off him, "No I don't, my uncle is personally seeing to your department tomorrow morning." he said while trying not to lose his temper.

She gasped a little, "Making me leave so soon? Hasn't even been a full day!" she said innocently.

"You forget that no one invited you here. And no one wants you here" he said very assertively.

Katara looked at him and almost laughed, she can't remember the last time she actually felt some joy, and she was also happy he was getting rid of Mai.

She looked at Katara, "this?" she said while pointing to Katara. Katara looked at Mai questionably then to Zuko, who was already staring at her, "Yeah." he said as he grabbed her and put her outside. Katara was finally able to hop onto Zuko's bed and rest. She layed down and tried to clear her head fast enough to sleep, it was an hour or so later that she was finally able to get some good sleep.

* * *

 _Katara's nightmare_

 _Katara woke up, and it was still whole room was filled with heavy clouds and there were no windows or doors. As if she couldn't leave the room. She looked confused, how could someone just remove the windows and doors of a place overnight? She put her hand on Zuko and shook him a bit. "Zuko what happened to the room?" she said Zuko then disappeared in her hands. She instantly got out of the bed scared, she walked back as she hit something and turned around, **Z**_ _ **hao**_ _, she gasped and went to run away but he grabbed her and shoved her onto the bed. "Stop" she whimpered as she attempted to escape. Suddenly he grew taller in size, looked like he was 10 ft and she shrunk. To at least 1 foot, "what was happening?" she thought. There were no windows or doors and she was suddenly super small. Zhao continued to work his way onto her and her screams were silences, every time she shouted for help or shrieked it made no noise, like if she was mute. She started crying, every second he inched closer and closer to.._

* * *

Real time

Katara shot up from the bed panting and breathing hard, she turned around to see an ordinary room and Zuko sleeping on the couch. She couldn't handle it anymore, she lives in constant paranoia and everything she does is her fault. She got out of the bed and ran out of the door towards the bow, unaware that Mai was watching her.

Mai walked into Zuko's room and woke him up, he looked at her frustrated but before he could say anything for waking him up, "Looks like your 'prisoner' is escaping" she said while smiling. His eyes widened as he bolted out the door running towards the bow, the only place Katara knew the way too.

Katara ran to the railing, tears down her cheek, she jumped over the rail and stood on the pure edge of the ship, she turned around and looked down to the water, it was freezing cold outside so the water must have been even colder. She would surely die of hypothermia or freeze to death in the matter of minutes she thought. She wanted to do it so badly, what else did she have to be alive for. It seemed as if her brother would never come to rescue her, and Zuko doesn't care for her well being anyways. Everything that happened to her was her fault, if only she hadn't dressed herself as a whore she thought. Her feet edged more and more off of the ship, she heard a door open and she turned around to make eye contact with Zuko, who yelled "Katara don't!" right before….


End file.
